Real-time invoices – creating customer delight

Wouldn't it be great to get an invoice delivered to your mobile after each voice/data call? How about a non-GSM customer getting real-time invoices on demand on an e-portal?

With intensifying competition, service is the only differentiator for Communication Service Providers (CSPs) today. Robust service and billing experiences will be key to defining customer loyalty for any CSP. While there are many alternatives currently from CSPs to know the customer usage at any time with near real-time accuracy, they would not provide accurate costs as they would not have considered billing time discounts, taxes, recurring and non-recurring charges. This results in customer dissatisfaction and disputes at the end of the month/quarter when the customer receives the invoice.

We all know that a credit card customer can look at his/her real-time invoice in near real-time. Why can't a telecom customer be given a similar option? Billing transformation and pricing policy transformation would be needed to implement this successfully real-time. Varying customer segments (premium to normal, high to average ARPU) and different geographies add to the complexity of implementing real-time billing systems.

Real-time invoice coupled with real-time service is ideal for any communication customer as these two are important factors in the customer service life cycle. As a customer, understanding the account status in real-time is valuable, especially if you handle a corporate account and are responsible for hundreds of GSM and non-GSM accounts. In such cases, real-time customer service becomes key to customer loyalty.

Real-time invoices should also take care of simplicity and real-time invoice query. Customers have the right to question each penny of his/her outflow and when a CSP provides a transparent invoice, it will increase loyalty, reduce churn and also result in ARPU/ARPA increase in the long run.

What are your thoughts on real-time invoices?

About the Author

Sripathy Srinivasan has been into various positions within Communication service provider domain over the last 15 years in the Europe, Middle East, APAC, ANZ and India. He has led cross-cultural teams onshore and offshore. His experience spans across Customer service operations, Telecom Business consulting, Telecom BSS Consulting, Customer service and contact center transformation and Loyalty/Retention. Sripathy has also worked directly in CSPs as a business manager and has gone ahead with Telecom IT consulting and Business consulting.

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